Podcasts social The Human Risk Podcast Professor Ian McCarthy on the business of being counter-intuitive

Professor Ian McCarthy on the business of being counter-intuitive

Published: Oct. 23, 2021, 11:15 a.m.

How can counter-intuitive thinking help us to make better business decisions? It\u2019s something that Professor Ian McCarthy explores in his research.

Ian has been on the show before, talking about his research Into workplace bullshit. You can hear that episode here \U0001f3a7 \U0001f449 https://www.humanriskpodcast.com/professor-ian-mccarthy-on-workplace/

On this episode, we begin by catching up with Ian\u2019s work on bullshit and find out why several large companies are getting his help to run bullshit audits.

We then explore the first of several counter-intuitive ideas.

If you\u2019re a company and you own some intellectual property \u2014 your logo or brand imagery, for example \u2014\xa0then conventional wisdom says that you should pursue anyone who tries to infringe your rights. But there are many situations where that might not actually be the best thing to do. Ian talks us through the idea of open branding.
You can read the research on that here:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007681320300938?via%3Dihub

After that, we explore social media, and I get Ian\u2019s thoughts on how companies and individuals might respond to it. Amongst other insights, Ian highlights how far from thinking of social media as a risk to be mitigated, there are counter-intuitive strategies available to companies who embrace it. Why might you, for example, want to use it to leak information that historically might have been considered trade secrets? You can learn more about that here: https://www.slideshare.net/IanMcCarthy/were-leaking-and-everythings-fine-how-and-why-companies-deliberately-leak-secrets-57447908?

Then we look at Ian\u2019s field, and he explains why he\u2019s a huge proponent of open academia. It\u2019s another concept that involves overturning conventional wisdom.
\u2028To see more of Ian\u2019s research, visit; https://sfu.academia.edu/IanMcCarthy

You can find him on social media:\u2028Twitter: https://twitter.com/Toffeemen68
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmccarthy1/

In our discussion, we refer to Led By Donkeys - https://www.ledbydonkeys.org/